GURGAON: Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday said the state government has prepared a 'Multi-Modal Mobility' plan to provide better transport facilities, like metro and pod taxis, to the people.

Haryana is seriously considering running pod taxi in big cities and in Gurgaon, including the old city. Hooda was speaking after flagging off the trial run of Rapid Metro, an intra-city metro service, in Gurgaon which is first of its kind project on Public-Private- Partnership (PPP) model in the country and he also laid foundation stone of it's extension.

A Rapid Metro train during a trial run in Gurgaon on Tuesday (PTI)

The Rapid Metro Gurgaon Corridor is being constructed at a cost of Rs 1,088 crore and it is 5.1 kilometre long. It has six stations Sikanderpur, DLF phase-2, Belvedere Towers, Cyber city, Moulsari Avenue and Cyber Green Infinity Towers.

The corridor is expected to be completed by March, 2013 on which metro trains will run from 5 a.m. onwards till midnight, with an interval of 4 to 5 minutes. The fare of Rapid Metro will be similar to that of Delhi Metro.

Three coaches which will have capacity of 760 passengers seating and standing (PTI)

Hooda also laid foundation of Rapid Metro Extension project which will be completed by July, 2015 at an estimated cost of Rs 2,100 crore and it would also have six stations, officials said.

The route length is about seven kilometers and it will cover the area of the city lying towards Sector 56 from Sikanderpur Metro Station.

All three coaches of Rapid Metro in Gurgaon are put on the track for final trail (BCCL)

The chief minister said Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is partner in construction of Rapid Metro Corridor in Gurgaon since it has provided right of way for this Corridor. He said HUDA will not be a partner in sharing the profits from this Rapid Metro and only IL & FS Company would earn profits as it has borne the finances on the project. Urbanisation is spreading speedily in Haryana and while on one hand the people get its benefits, on the other it has problems too, local transport being one of them, Hooda said. Rapid Metro would be able to address to the need of local residents, he said.

All three coaches of Rapid Metro in Gurgaon are put on the track for the final trail (BCCL)

State government first connected Gurgaon with Delhi by Metro and later on Metro link were sanctioned from Delhi to Faridabad and from Delhi to Bahadurgarh, he said. Now, the Haryana government was making efforts to take Metro towards Kundli in district Sonipat, he said.

Referring to the construction restricted area of 900 sq. meter around ammunition depot, Hooda said the Supreme Court has imposed restriction on new construction in this area.

All three coaches of Rapid Metro in Gurgaon are put on the track for the final trail (BCCL)

After the stay of the Apex Court is vacated, the matter of providing basic amenities to these residents will be considered, he said.

The matter was raised by Congress' Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjeet Singh in his speech, who said that basic amenities should be provided to the people living in the restricted area as these facilities were available to Maruti Udyog Ltd and residents of Sector 14 and 17 which also lie in the restricted zone.

The first coach of Rapid Metro rail is being placed on the track in Gurgaon. (PTI)

Singh also requested the chief minister to extend Metro service in old city of Gurgaon and if required the state government should give contribution as it gave in bringing Metro to Gurgaon from Delhi. Secretary, Union Urban Development Ministry, Sudhir Krishna said that Metro is driver of development and this facility should be provided not only in the areas which have already been developed, but should also be extended to a length of 5 to 10 kilometres in advance in other areas.

He also said that Union Government was aiming to prepare a National Mobility Card which could be used for travelling in Metro irrespective of limits of state boundaries. He said that stations of Rapid Metro have been integrated with DMRC stations and fare is also similar. A passenger can take a ticket from Rapid Metro Station for travelling in DMRC Metro.

The first coach of Rapid Metro rail is being placed on the track in Gurgaon. (PTI)

Earlier, Managing Director of Rapid Metro, Sanjiv Rai said that the trial run has been done in record time of 24 months. He said that after the Rapid Metro Extension is completed, on an average 60,000 vehicles will off the roads and it would also result in reduction of 90,000 tonnes of carbon emission into the environment.